Speculative fiction author. Freelance editor. Opinionated nerd.

R-7: RIVEN

Title: RIVENAge Category: AdultGenre: Urban FantasyWord Count: 90,000

Pitch: They made her run, made her hide, murdered her parents, kidnapped her sister. With fake ID and genetically engineered animal spirit, twenty-two-year-old Asha arrives in Mumbai to dismantle the lives of those who decimated hers.

First 250 Words:
Of all the costumes I’ve donned since my thirteenth birthday, the lace and sequined confection squeezing the air from my lungs was the torturous culmination. The new kid, the orphan, the outsider, the genius, the rich-bitch; I’d spent nine years blending those personalities, creating a new background, a new history for myself, in order to return to the country where my life had first gone wrong.

I passed my lace and gold embellished invitation into the hostess’s perfectly manicured hands, stood still while she tap-tap-tapped her rings against the sapphire glass. With a quick glance she judged the Louboutins killing my toes, the fist-sized fire opal caught in a net of silver and gold threads against the open back of my dress, my expertly coiffed dark hair.

Most people didn’t notice my deep brown contact lenses. They couldn’t guess I wore smoke lensed glasses to smother the unnatural iridescence of my hazel eyes. They saw a taller than average girl wearing a designer dress, showing some leg, and wearing an expensive jewel because that’s all they wanted to see. They didn’t know that beneath those yards of silk was evidence of the animal genetically engineered to share my body.